Indians Prospect Insider

The Lake County Captains (1-0) fell behind 1-0 in the first inning but did not let that scare them. They scored five unanswered runs in the next two innings to go along with a stellar pitching performance by lefty Luis Lugo. The Captains took game one of the Eastern Division Championship Series from the Fort Wayne Tincaps (0-1) 5-1 on Saturday night.

Jeremy Moore grounded a double into right field to drive home Cole Figueroa in the bottom of the eighth inning for the winning run in a 4-2 victory over the Columbus Clippers on Saturday afternoon at Durham Bulls Athletic Park, taking the series three games to one.

Nick Maronde became the latest player to trade his halo for a block "C" or vice-versa this season as the Indians and Angels have now had multiple personnel change squads this year, including Joe Smith, Vinnie Pestano and, most recently, J.B. Schuck. After appearing in two College World Series and playing with some of the game's best in LA, the left-hander is ready for the next chapter in his career, as the IBI's Jake Dungan writes.

After Thursday's defeat in extra innings, Cleveland returned to extra innings on Friday to defeat Chicago 2-1 in 10 and start the weekend series with a victory. Central to this victory was Yan Gomes, who has followed up a breakout 2013 and contract extension with continued excellence. The IBI's John Grimm breaks down Indians' catchers framing metric and considers one play in very particular depth.

It was not a very good night on the farm as both Indians affiliates in action in playoff contests lost a pivotal Game 3. With Lake County off as they prepare to begin their Eastern Division Finals series, both Triple-A Columbus and Double-A Akron lost well pitched one run games. The IBI's Arthur Kinney recaps the action from Around the Farm...

When it comes to walk-off wins, nobody in the American League does it better than the Indians. Activated off the disabled list just hours before first pitch Friday, outfielder David Murphy couldn't have had a better first at-bat back. Deadlocked with Chicago in a 1-1 tie in the 10th, Murphy notched a pinch-hit game winning single to center off reliever Maikel Cleto, edging the Tribe over the ChiSox, 2-1 in the series opener.

With baseball AND football on tap for the weekend, this has to be considered the best time of the year! In this MLB News and Notes segment, the IBI's Andrew Zajac will be giving occasional reports on the latest news and rumors throughout the MLB. Today's piece focuses on Ron Washington announcing his resignation, two GMs learn their fate for next season while a decision on a third could come soon, the Blue Jays lose a key player for the remainder of the season, and more.

Columbus started the game with Shaun Marcum on the mound, and the Durham Bulls put up three early runs in the first two innings. That lead held the entire stretch of the game as Columbus dropped their second game in a row to Durham, 3-2 on Friday.

Three Richmond pitchers, led by lefty starter Ty Blach, weaved a three-hit shutout Friday night, as the Flying Squirrels edged the Akron RubberDucks, 1-0, in game three of the EL Western Division playoffs at The Diamond.

In today’s Minor Happenings piece, the IBI's Tony Lastoria looks at the outstanding finish to the season for Short-A Mahoning Valley second baseman Steven Patterson and looks at what kind of prospect he is for the Indians. He also breaks down Low-A Lake County left-handed pitcher Luis Lugo’s season and prospect standing, and provides tons of interesting comments from the front office on things like Francisco Lindor’s timeline, the growth of Erik Gonzalez into a legit shortstop prospect, Danny Salazar’s recovery from an early season setback and more.

Detroit's hitters didn't bother to take much time to congratulate new father Josh Tomlin on Thursday night as they tagged him for five runs in a seven-run 11th inning, which allowed the Tigers to clinch the series win with an 11-4 victory. Trevor Bauer's first-inning struggles also continued as he allowed four runs to start the game before settling in. Join the IBI's Jake Dungan as he gives his thoughts on the loss.

The Akron RubberDucks and Columbus Clippers reversed fortunes Thursday, with both teams ending the night with their series tied 1-1 after a RubberDucks win and a Clippers loss. The Lake County Captains stayed consistent, however, winning their second game in a row to advance to the next round of the playoffs. Join Jim Piascik as he recaps all of the playoff action, including Nellie Rodriguez powering the Captains to victory, as he takes you Around the Farm.

For the second straight night, the Indians blanked Detroit through nine innings of play Thursday. There's just one problem. The game went 11 innings, and two of the innings combined to result in 11 runs for the surging Tigers. Deadlocked in a 4-4 tie in extras, Motown scored seven runs on five hits in the 11th, rallying them to an easy 11-4 victory in the series finale.

Yankees star pitcher Masahiro Tanaka's season may not be done just yet. He is expected to throw a bullpen session this weekend and manager Joe Girardi maintains that he will pitch again this season. The IBI's Jay Frierson provides the update on Tanaka, surgery on the horizon for Homer Bailey, and more...

The Columbus Clippers were two outs away from heading to Durham with a 2-0 series lead, but the Durham Bulls rallied in the ninth inning to tie it and then won it in the tenth, 4-3 to tie the series at one in front of 5,158 at Huntington Park on Thursday night.

Right-hander Will Roberts set a new career-high with 11 strikeouts, and led theAkron RubberDucks to a 5-1 victory over the Richmond Flying Squirrels in game two of the Eastern League Western Division Series Thursday night at Canal Park.

The Lake County Captains (2-0) scored seven runs to take the lead and they made it stick as they took game 2 on Thursday night 7-2. The Captains swept the South Bend Silver Hawks in two games to punch their ticket to the Eastern Division Finals.

This weekly feature piece here at the IBI specifically looks at some of the prospects that have maybe not had as much attention they deserve for a variety of reasons but who are interesting or are coming onto the scene. This week the IBI's Tony Lastoria takes a look at right-handed reliever Trevor Frank, a backend arm who has had a lot of success early in his pro career and a key member of the Low-A Lake County pitching staff this season. What kind of prospect is he? What does he throw? What kind of future does he have? Tony provides all the details...

Only one game truly mattered this past week and the Lake County Captains made it count. On Wednesday, the team sealed the first of a three-game series against the South Bend Silver Hawks to gain an edge in the first round of the Midwest League playoffs. The IBI's Stephanie Metzger recaps what happened over the final week of the Captains’ regular season and the first game of the playoffs.

Available IBI Books

The 2014 Cleveland Indians Baseball Insider book featuring the Indians' Top 100 Prospects and more is now available. Also, previous editions from 2008-2012 are also available at a discounted rate. Just click on the book image for more information. Thanks again for all the support!